Harper Carlton recently posted a very good response to the class discussion about internet. I enjoyed the fact that she focused on the internet's effect on crime over Internet's any other effects. I agree with her points for the most part. Yes, pirating on the internet is becoming more common. Yes, hackers are also becoming more common. But the anonymous part? Wellllll....
For the most part, the internet is anonymous. Except it's not. While an amateur computer user would not be able to find your identity, it's completely possible for criminals to be found. IP addresses can be traced, firewalls can be broken-- no amount of code can keep police out forever. Considering how thinly layered most people are with covering up their illegal activities online, it's actually easy to find out a criminal's identity.
The thing is, though, people for the most part don't get arrested for piracy. The pirate's database of videos and music is so enormous I don't think the police even try to catch everyone who streams or downloads illegally uploaded content. I mean, come on, who hasn't downloaded music without paying for it? Times are a'changing, and today's people don't care about consequences because there aren't really any enforced ones. Now, if you get caught doing another crime or something, when the police check your computer you could get arrested, but otherwise, they don't seem to care.
I, for one, would not like stricter piracy laws. Such laws have tried to pass,, and they would make fanfiction and fanart even illegal. Terrible thoughts. And no Supernatural livestreams? I would die. But I digress.
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